Search - Dmitry Shostakovich, Kurt Sanderling, Berlin Symphony Orchestra :: Shostakovich Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6 - Kurt SAnderling (Berlin Classics)

Superb performances and sound

Adam Bigham | Michigan, USA | 02/25/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic from 1941-60, Kurt Sanderling was a colleague of Shostakovich and is sensitive to the genius of these symphonies, which are not as well known as the 5th, 10th, or the "war" symphonies (7&8). This is a good bet if you want 1&6 together, well-played and well-recorded, as would be any of Sanderling's Shostakovich symphony recordings. His take on the 15th symphony is supposed to be particularly rewarding. These Berlin recordings were from 1983 for the 1st, and 1979 for the 6th. The digital remastering is superb. The booklet features excellent background info on Shostakovich's writing of the 1st and 6th symphonies, and there is a timeline of the conductor's life & career."

The best first shostakovich's symphony that I've heard

Jean-Pierre Lara A | Medellín, Colombia | 06/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I should say that the first symphony of Shostakovich is one of the my favorites symphonies between all the symphonies and the symphonies of shostakovich.



I have some of the best versions of this symphony, for example, Kondrashin, Ancerl, Rozhdestvensky, Bernstein and Barshai but I was still searching for the best of all, and this version is the one.



The key here is the equilibrium between the lyric part of the symphony and the brave part of it. Some of the versions emphasizes in one or another and then the symphony lose equilibrium but in this version we find a perfect armony between the two parts and the symphony is a coherent narration.



The direction is excellent and the response of the orchestra is very good, the sound is vey good too and the presentation is adecuate.



Sum up, in my opinion this is the best version of all shostakovich's first."